The next morning, Kaoru woke up to find that Kenshin had already left. He had left a rose on his pillow though, which Kaoru lifted to her nose and smelled softly before smiling and slipping out of bed. At the foot of the bed, he had laid out an outfit for her, a beautiful, lavender kimono with white cherry blossoms on it. Smiling, she walks into the bathroom and slips it on, tying it before walking out and finding herself face to face with a grinning Sano.
"Morning there Missy. Battousai's dealing with some urgent business for today, so I'm to escort you around the castle today." Sano said as he put his hands behind his head and looked her up and down.
"You look nice. Battousai asked for that one yesterday after your little meeting in the market place. I've never seen him smiling so much like that. Come on now, we're gonna grab a quick breakfast and then I'm to take you wherever you want." Sano said as Kaoru blushed and they started out of the room down to the kitchens again.
It was much less crowded this morning. They sat down at the same table as before and another kitchen hand brought them a light breakfast, which Sano practically inhaled while Kaoru ate at a normal pace. Once they were done, they left the kitchen and just wandered around a little.
"Where is Ken…..the Battousai?" Kaoru asked, not sure if she was allowed to call him Kenshin now that she was his slave. Sano laughed and looked down at her with a goofy smile.
"Probably in the torture room, better known as the meeting room. Since he's the boss, he has to deal with all of the complaints and all of the other lords around here who want to buy us out and stuff. You might not know this, but the only reason we kill people is because we're paid to." Sano explained as they wandered into the garden where there were a bunch of men doing katas. Sano led her over to a bench and sat down, leaning back and watching the guys, an evil glint in his eyes as he smirks causing Kaoru to giggle.
"You're planning something. I know that look; the little boys in my old kendo class had the same one when they were planning on sabotaging one another." Kaoru said, smiling sadly as she remembered that she would never teach another kendo class again and that she would never see the little boys again. Sano, noticing her sudden sadness, thinks up a plan to cheer her up.
"Ok, you caught me. I won't ruin anyone's day………yet. So for now, we'll go and find the Battousai. He should be done by now, and if he's not, he'll be glad to see you. You'll be a great escape from those fat, old lords." Sano said as they get up and head back inside, Sano able to trip one of the men before running inside, Kaoru following him and giggling.
Sano led her upstairs to a door and knocked loudly. A voice came from inside telling them to enter and Kaoru follows Sano in, looking around curiously before finding Kenshin and smiling softly. The room was empty except for Kenshin, a long table and stacks upon stacks of paper everywhere, and Kenshin with his hands in his hair, looking down at one of the papers. Kenshin had yet to notice them because he seemed so focused on the paper.
Sano smiles and slams the door shut behind him, laughing when Kenshin and Kaoru jump at the loud noise and Kenshin finally looked up, his face breaking into a smile when he sees Kaoru and getting up.
"Kaoru, Sano, what brings you here?" He asked as he walked over to them and kissed Kaoru on the cheek before wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close to him. Kaoru blushes and smiles up at him, letting him do as he wants with her because she knew that he was her master technically, even though she had never heard of a master that lavished his slave this much.
Not that she minded being held by Kenshin or all of the lavish things he did for her, or being known as his. Sure, it had pissed her off at first, what with everyone calling her his prize, but she had come to terms with the fact that she was his slave and that she was his. She had told herself at first that she would put up with him to keep her town safe, but now she could tell that she was falling for him.
"Sano was going to do something horrible to the men practicing outside, so I had to get him out of there." Kaoru explained as Sano put on an innocent face.
"He was, was he? Well, maybe we should throw him to Megumi, it seems like she hasn't attacked him yet." Kenshin said, chuckling softly and looking from Sano to Kaoru with a smile. Kaoru giggles and nods, smiling up at him and blushing a little at all the attention, not noticing Sano pretending to look offended.
"Well, I'm sure she wouldn't do anything to me. She loves me……I hope…" Sano said as he slipped out of the room, giving the two some private time. Kaoru giggles softly at his statement, still looking up at Kenshin and not noticing that Sano had left. Kenshin had though and was planning to take advantage of it.
Placing a hand on her cheek and smirking at the fact that she blushes at the softest touch of his, he leans down and kisses her softly. This time, she responded sooner than she had the night before and enjoyed it much more, her hands moving to lie on his chest as she does. Kenshin smirked against her lips before pulling away a little and looking into her eyes. Kaoru was blushing darkly and smiling up at him as she looked up into his eyes as well.
"So, how was your day?" He asked as he pulled a chair up and sat down, pulling Kaoru down into his lap and smirking as she squeaks before snuggling against him with a blush.
"It was fun. Sano and I wandered around for a while before watching the men doing katas outside. How was your day? Sano said that this was also known as the torture room and that you would be happy if we distracted you for a little while…" She explained, blushing again as she notices and feels his hand tracing the pattern on the skirt of her kimono right over her thigh.
"I'm very happy that you came and distracted me for a little while. He's aptly named it. All of this boring work is torture, though it's bearable when you have a beautiful woman waiting for you and willing to distract you from it." He said, looking up into her eyes and leaning up to kiss her again, enjoying how she shyly kissed him back and placed a soft hand on his cheek once she gathered up the courage.
He pulls out of the kiss and smirked at how she blushed but looked at him confusedly, wondering why he had stopped. He kissed her once more before lifting her up and getting up, carrying him out of the room bride-like and chuckling softly at the cute, embarrassed expression on her face and the way she wrapped her arms around his neck to cling to him, blushing darkly. He was about to lean down and kiss her again when Sano, Soujiro and a couple of other men ran up and bowed down, causing him to glare at them for ruining the moment and her to look at them confused.
"Sir, there is another lord here to see you and he won't leave until he does. We tried to tell him that you and your prize are together, but he wouldn't-"
"I'll see him. Sano, escort Kaoru back to our room please. I'm sorry Kaoru, I'll be up soon." Kenshin said as he put her back on her feet and kissed her once more before heading off with Soujiro and the other two men, leaving her dazed with Sano.